diff --git a/VisualEditor.hooks.php b/VisualEditor.hooks.php
index bf5bd7ac90..87985d3b37 100644
--- a/VisualEditor.hooks.php
+++ b/VisualEditor.hooks.php
@@ -191,10 +191,16 @@ class VisualEditorHooks {
 	public static function onDoEditSectionLink( $skin, $title, $section, $tooltip, &$result, $lang ) {
 		// Only do this if the user has VE enabled
 		// (and we're not in parserTests)
+		// (and we're not on a foreign file description page)
 		if (
 			isset( $GLOBALS[ 'wgVisualEditorInParserTests' ] ) ||
 			!$skin->getUser()->getOption( 'visualeditor-enable' ) ||
-			$skin->getUser()->getOption( 'visualeditor-betatempdisable' )
+			$skin->getUser()->getOption( 'visualeditor-betatempdisable' ) ||
+			(
+				$title->inNamespace( NS_FILE ) &&
+				WikiPage::factory( $title ) instanceof WikiFilePage &&
+				!WikiPage::factory( $title )->isLocal()
+			)
 		) {
 			return;
 		}
diff --git a/modules/ve-mw/init/targets/ve.init.mw.ViewPageTarget.init.js b/modules/ve-mw/init/targets/ve.init.mw.ViewPageTarget.init.js
index f40e9269d1..9091a3419b 100644
--- a/modules/ve-mw/init/targets/ve.init.mw.ViewPageTarget.init.js
+++ b/modules/ve-mw/init/targets/ve.init.mw.ViewPageTarget.init.js
@@ -282,17 +282,21 @@
 					$divider
 						.addClass( 'mw-editsection-divider' )
 						.text( dividerText );
-					$editLink
-						.attr( 'href', function ( i, val ) {
-							return new mw.Uri( veEditUri ).extend( {
-								'vesection': new mw.Uri( val ).query.section
-							} );
-						} )
-						.addClass( 'mw-editsection-visualeditor' );
-					if ( conf.tabPosition === 'before' ) {
-						$editSourceLink.before( $editLink, $divider );
-					} else {
-						$editSourceLink.after( $divider, $editLink );
+					// Don't mess with section edit links on foreign file description pages
+					// (bug 54259)
+					if ( !$( '#ca-view-foreign' ).length ) {
+						$editLink
+							.attr( 'href', function ( i, val ) {
+								return new mw.Uri( veEditUri ).extend( {
+									'vesection': new mw.Uri( val ).query.section
+								} );
+							} )
+							.addClass( 'mw-editsection-visualeditor' );
+						if ( conf.tabPosition === 'before' ) {
+							$editSourceLink.before( $editLink, $divider );
+						} else {
+							$editSourceLink.after( $divider, $editLink );
+						}
 					}
 				} );
 			}